


a dozen roses would do

by latinxrichie



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: M/M, valentines day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 18:33:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14816660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/latinxrichie/pseuds/latinxrichie
Summary: reddie oneshot! richie fucks up valentine’s day but it’s the thought that counts! a journey of dramatic romantic gestures





	a dozen roses would do

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this fic as a vday gift for tori and now we're dating. cool.

_”There is a detainee from the Derry Police Department is attempting to contact you. Do you care to accept the call?”_

“Richard  _fucking_  Tozier.”

“Jail. You’re in fucking  _jail_? I’ve been sitting here for fucking hours because you told me to be home and ready for some big surprise. What was the surprise? You were going to bring home some meth for us to try? Or- Or- you hired a fucking hooker to come to the apartment? Was  _that_  the surprise?”

“Baby, baby, baby! Before you go any further… Happy Valentine’s Day!”

_“Richie!”_

“Okay, fuck, let me explain! Do you remember the night you realized you love me?”

“What the hell does that have to do with you being in jail, Richie? If you’re just trying to get out of trouble here-“

“Would you  _listen_?”

* * *

Richie knew he loved Eddie first. It was immediate. The first look he took at this kid and Richie knew he was going to be something to him forever. There was a needle inside of Richie’s heart like a compass always pointing towards home. He didn’t know where it was aimed until he met Eddie. Richie never strayed too far from home since.

On the other side of the story, there was a lot of hesitance for Eddie. Richie Tozier was the kid his mother warned him about. A loud, smoking foul mouth. That’s what Eddie saw on the surface anyway. The definition of a bad influence. Eddie was reluctant to have anything to do with him. He didn’t have a choice, though. Once Richie latched on, he was on for good. Shaking him off was out of the question. Eddie tried a few dozen times, but Richie resisted. Everything he said or did was an attempt to impress him or make him laugh, engage with his idiocy. Eddie always engaged at the very least. It was difficult not to when he wanted to refute the dirty jokes at his mother’s expense or the nicknames he hated because they made him blush when he didn’t want to.

It took years of relentless flirting to trap Eddie into a first date. He still believed Richie was messing around when he told him they had to go the carnival opening for the weekend, otherwise  _“The fire in my chest that burns for you might go out if you say no- and I’m gonna go out with it, Eds.”_  He was sure Eddie only agreed because of their deal detailing Richie would have to lay off the nicknames for the evening, but there was a smile on Eddie’s face that looked forward to their date mixed in there too.

It was the first time Eddie experienced trashmouth wading in a sea of his own nerves. Richie was preoccupied with not using those stupid nicknames and instead doing whatever people did on first dates to land themselves a second one. Eddie was catching a glimpse at the guy hiding behind a wall of jokes and he liked all that he could see.  _“Why don’t you win me a prize, dick?”_  Eddie asked, dangling the use of the nickname in front of Richie’s face because he wasn’t allowed to shoot one back. However, Richie was over the moon with the suggestion. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was working his way around the carnival games rigged for failure.

Someone had to win the games every once in a while. That someone was Richie Tozier- every time- without fail. To win Eddie’s affections, the boys traveled down the line of games, collecting prizes at each stop. Eddie had fun watching Richie win, knowing the smile that followed each victory was a product of the taller boy feeling confident he was doing something right as far as their date was concerned. It made Eddie happy, but, he wasn’t impressed.  _“You know Rich, I win myself these prizes too.”_

_“Fucking excuse me? Only in your dreams could you ever slay these carnival games like I can.”_

_“Watch me.”_  Eddie spent up the entirety of their carnival tickets trying to win a stuffed animal identical to one Richie already claimed their first time passing through the bottle toss. Richie had been smug about Eddie’s failure at first, but every ticket his date burned through were less and less rides they could have gone on together for the rest of the evening. In the end, they were left short due to Eddie’s stubbornness to admit not just anyone could win these things. While offended his talents weren’t recognized, Richie wasn’t upset. He was however afraid that what could be his only date with Eddie Kaspbrak was now going to be cut short.

Until.

_“Boys. I can see you don’t want the fun to end. How’s about we make a bet? What do you got- about ten prizes stashed away in your arms? Kid, I’ll give ya one more round to play. If you win, I’ll give you a whole roll of tickets since you lost all yours here. If you lose, I’ll take those prizes off your friend’s hands. But these are a whole lotta tickets right here! I’d be doing you a favor and giving you a good night.”_

_“You wanna take his prizes? Yeah, right.”_  Eddie scoffed.

The guy saw Eddie as a sure loser and knew he was stubborn, too. Richie could sock him just for making that bet against him. Eddie had tried and failed upwards of a dozen times but Richie didn’t put it past him to win the next one. He wanted Eddie to take that chance, even if the odds were against him.  _“Come on, Eddie. This time I’ll coach you and you’ll get it.”_  Richie dropped all of his prizes on the counter and took the ring the man offered, standing close beside Eddie to demonstrate. So close it made the shorter blush. _“You wanna get that bottle right there. Not too hard, okay?”_ Eddie nodded and Richie stepped back. He tossed the ring, and for the umpteenth time, he missed.

_“Ooh! Too bad, kid. I really thought you had it in ya…”_

_“Screw you, jackass! Let’s go, Eddie.”_  For the first time during their date, Richie took Eddie’s hand, locking their fingers up together and taking him away without another thought about it. His nerves finally settled down after the ordeal.

Butterflies, Eddie noticed.  _“Richie! Your prizes. I’m so sorry. I thought I could do it.”_

 _“Hey, look! It’s fine, Eds. I got my prize right here.”_  Richie held up their hands together, for a moment forgetting their deal. But Eddie didn’t mind being called Eds at the time. He might have even liked it.

* * *

“I went back for the tickets.”

“Richie, what the fuck are you talking about? That- That was  _years_  ago! The carnival isn’t even running right now.”

“Yeah. What better time to break in and claim what’s yours?”

“Trespassing! You fucking trespassed?”

“…I did. For you.”

“Richie. What the hell were we going to do with a roll of tickets when the carnival isn’t even open? God, what even makes you think I’d want to go back there? We’re too old for the fucking carnival!”

“No, we weren’t going to use them. It’s just like- supposed to be cute. I went back to claim what’s rightfully yours.”

“How are the tickets rightfully mine? I lost, remember?”

“Yeah but the guy was an asshole, Eds! You deserved them for being so damn  _cute_!”

“You’re an idiot.”

“… your idiot, right? You’re gonna come get me?”

“…”

_“Baby, come on!”_

“Be quiet! I’m on my way.”

* * *

Eddie walked into the police department with his emergency  _bail Richard Tozier out of jail fund._  He wouldn’t have to use it, though. Richie was already released and milling about in the lobby while waiting for his man to pick him up, pulling at the straps of his backpack like a child waiting for his ride home from school. “What are you doing out of the cell?” Eddie asked as if Richie had single handedly made the decision to stand about outside of the bars.

Richie grinned at the sound of his voice, surprised by the lack of irritation be was met with. Eddie was relieved to see him safe and now he was relieved, too. “They took time off my sentence for good behavior.” He smirked. It had been a case of the arresting officers taking pity on the him for trying to do something sweet for Eddie on Valentine’s Day. In exchange, Richie promised them his boyfriend’s reaction was going to be punishment for his crimes enough.

Eddie looked past his stupid smirk to the officers behind the front desk. “Are you all sure you don’t want to keep him?” He deadpanned. Richie began pushing him towards the exit. As cruel as it was to offer him back up to the cell, he could see Eddie found some humor in the situation. It was a small crack of hope for earning his way back into his good graces.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, boys.” Richie called behind them. He held the door open for his Eddie and promptly swung his arm around his neck on their way to the car. “Thanks for springing me out, toots. Can I have a kiss?” He tried, met with a glare and a head shake instead.

“I was worried about you. What if they kept you?”

“Awh shucks, babe. I didn’t mean to make you worry. But there was no way they were going to keep me after they heard the romantic tale that was our first date.”

“You didn’t-“

“I did. I told them all about the nervous wreck I was and the guy that stiffed us out of the tickets. Even told them about the smooch you planted on me when I dropped you off.”

“You’re so fucking embarrassing.” Eddie complained, nudging him off while his cheeks burned thinking back on the night he had to grab Richie by the face when he wouldn’t take the hint he wanted a kiss goodbye at the end of their date.

“That may be so. But it payed off.” Richie stopped before arriving to the car, shrugging the backpack off his shoulders. He pulled the zipper to reveal a roll of tickets he nabbed off of the carnival grounds. The corner of Eddie’s lips gave way into a smile. He thought the gesture in particular was stupid. There were so many flaws in plan and factors that couldn’t given way to Richie’s failure, but he managed to deliver anyway. “They let me keep it. Said it wasn’t worth shit but what do they know.”

Eddie grabbed the roll from his bag and looked it once over. “These aren’t the same ones, you know. These are new. They don’t look the same.” He picked the present apart with an unstoppable grin on his lips. It was the most thoughtful Valentine’s gift he received yet, and Richie always went all out for the holiday. It was partly why he wasn’t all that surprised by the stupid gesture.

“You’re never happy, are you?” Richie used the same tone, conveying the reality they knew he hit it out of the park this year, decidedly ignoring the hiccup he encountered along the way.

Eddie let his hand fall to his side with his present clutched, placing the other on Richie’s waist. He leaned up half way for a kiss. Along the way Richie learned how to read the moment, Eddie knew he he would be met without anymore of a prompt. When Richie kissed him,  _butterflies_. Just like their first. “Next year just get roses like a regular person, would you?”

Richie beamed. “One dozen or two, sweetheart?”


End file.
